


The Tragedy of Siblings

by Bird_Teeth



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Thoughts, Canon-Typical Behavior, Fix-It, Gen, Good Sibling Klaus Hargreeves, Good Sibling Number Six | Ben Hargreeves, Good Sibling Vanya Hargreeves, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Hurt Vanya Hargreeves, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Prostitution, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus uses he/they pronouns, No Apocalypse (Umbrella Academy), Panic Attacks, Pre-Season/Series 01, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Spiraling Thoughts, Suicidal Thoughts, Vanya Hargreeves Deserves Better, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Vanya is messed up, mental health, so is klaus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:53:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26258212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bird_Teeth/pseuds/Bird_Teeth
Summary: Vanya had written her book in four days. The instant feeling of satisfaction that she, small little number 7, had let all her family’s dirty laundry out to dry. She was proud of her work, her vengeance. Then she wasn’t.Klaus had read Vanya’s book in seven days, the last week of their seventh rehab trip. He was proud of her, overjoyed even, that small little number 7 finally found a voice. They were happy for her. Then he read it.A story about two siblings and how their pain may just create a bridge between them rather then a wedge.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 8
Kudos: 81





	1. The Mistake Of A Particular Number 7

Vanya had written her book in four days. Well, the manuscript at least. Actually getting it published took another four weeks, a surprise to herself. The stories from other authors about getting their books published had deterred her at first, but she was relieved to find out that the first publisher took her offer in a heartbeat. Vanya knew it was because her autobiography was full of secrets that had never before been shared, dark secrets at that. An entire book exposing the most famous young superheroes ever, who wouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to publicize that? She liked to think people would read it because she had written it, she also knew that wasn’t the case. Anyway, back to how long she had taken.

Four days was all Vanya needed. Writing the book was therapeutic, getting her frustrations, thoughts, feelings, and opinions out and onto paper without a second thought. Exposing her siblings for the scum they were, the treatment she had to endure finally being told. Vanya wasn’t going to be silent, nonexistent Number Seven anymore. She was going to be Vanya, the reject of Umbrella Academy, and everyone would finally know her. Vanya would finally be given recognition and praise. 

Vanya’s autobiography, Extra Ordinary, was published. 

The attention she garnered overwhelmed her. The words of support flooded in, the surprise of the real story sending shockwaves through the world. Pride filled her chest, fragile happiness finally settling as the attention grew. Vanya did something, Vanya made something better than her siblings and she would relish every second. The reactions the book would bring about amongst her siblings didn’t worry her all that much, she knew they wouldn’t dare confront her about it, just wallow in self-pity. They always did. She was better than them.

Until she wasn’t.

It was a week after it’s initial publish and she had attended another book signing. The line, relatively long but not to the point where it was unmanageable, began to dwindle. Vanya stuck to her code: smile bright, suppress her anxiety, sign her name, say a few words, listen to the praise, and watch the person leave. Easy enough. However, as the last person began to walk away, she saw someone out of the corner of her eye. 

A tall, gangly, mess of a person stood right inside the door and she knew instantly who it was. Number Four. The Seance. Klaus. The junky. The attention whore. A pit formed deeply in her stomach as soon as she caught his eyes. The look that was displayed across their face wrought something deep inside her. The one living sibling that she liked the most, although she had cut ties with them recently due to her exhaustion of him, something she now felt bad about. Of course, he would be the one to pop by, the only one that willingly sought her out, but the look they wore told her this wasn’t by chance. They had been seeking her out, perhaps to yell at her. The look he had told Vanya otherwise.

Klaus seemed caught in a cloud of loneliness, sadness, acceptance, and even pride in Vanya. They held themself so tightly, putting on a mask to congratulate her because they read every word she wrote about him and Vanya realized that they had accepted it and he was even proud of her. Her sibling had accepted what she said as fact, there was no anger or betrayal in those eyes. Instead, something sad behind the mask they displayed, deep-set guilt. Something she knew very well but also had no clue about. 

At that moment, Vanya felt it, the stinging in her heart. She had written all of their nicknames, the nasty retelling of her side of the story when she had no clue at all. She wrote and wrote, happily hurting her family, not even realizing the weight to it. And for what? A few weeks of glory to only fall back with no family left for her. Vanya only then stopped to truly realize the extent of her actions, beginning to feel the heavy guilt. No more big awkward hugs from Luther, even if he was so brainwashed. No longer any small, albeit awkward, talks with Diego if they ran into each other. No more fancy birthday cards, although quite flat, from Allison. No more late-night violin practices with a shivering Klaus. Only then did she regret the words she wrote down. Vanya had written so bitterly about her siblings when she forgot a simple fact. Reginald was the true monster. She forgot just how fucked they all were. However, she couldn’t dwell too long. Klaus was crying, very quietly, but clearly upset. 

Vanya started to stand up, deciding to talk to him when they turned around and ran off. Standing flabbergasted for only a few seconds before her legs took off without her mind. What the hell was she supposed to do, would they even accept an apology, was she wrong about how he felt, how could she do this to them? One thing was for sure, Vanya was set on finding them and talking with them. 

The Umbrella Academy didn’t just hurt her, it hurt all of them. She had to fix the mistakes she made. 

But how?


	2. A Spiraling Act Of A Particular Number 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus reads Vanya’s book and makes them have some not so swell and kinda terrible thoughts about himself. He decides that they should do something about it, but will their idea end in failure or a rekindled relationship?

Klaus had read Vanya’s book in seven days, the last week of their seventh rehab trip. The book, a new one with the smell of fresh paper, astounded him when they first laid their eyes upon the autobiography in the small book library. An autobiography by his baby sister, little Vanya. He was so proud of her, and her beautiful face printed on the back would be a wonderful piece to add to their collection of sibling memorabilia.

Then he read it.

At first, they were angry with her. Angry that she would betray them like this, but as he began to read deeper into the introduction, he felt a pain settle deep in their heart. Only then, sitting on their cot at seven in the morning, did he finally look back at the mess of their childhood and felt terrible guilt for what he did to Vanya. The anger they initially felt ceased, all they could feel now was a sort of sorrow understanding. Guilt. Vanya had opened up the can of worms that was the Umbrella Academy and served the platter to the world and, to Klaus, she had every right to do so. They had hurt her and so she was allowed to expose him.

Seven days to complete a book was a new record, the last being seven months. The reason? He felt obligated to read all of Vanya’s autobiography as quickly as they could, the guilt settling in their gut. It was the least he could do for all the horrible treatment he had put her through during these years. The first three chapters, although not a personal pain, prepared Klaus for what they would endure once his chapter came along. To Klaus, Vanya was allowed to hurt them as much as they hurt her. Klaus deserved to feel pain because he had hurt his sister, a constant with all the people they loved.

Klaus reached his chapter, simply titled Four. A masterpiece, really, their very own confirmation that the way they felt about themself and how everyone around him felt was what he always suspected: disappointment. It didn’t help that Vanya’s writing sounded a lot like Klaus’ own thoughts. Ben always told them his thoughts were wrong, that his thoughts were bad, but how could they be bad if they were true? How could they be bad if Vanya felt the same?

Their chapter started like all the others, a simple explanation from Vanya of who Klaus was behind the curtains. Then it shifted onto Vanya, displaying all the pain she had gone through due to Klaus’ actions. A victim to his cruelty. Just the thought alone that they were that big of a burden to Vanya almost gave him a panic attack. One part of the chapter stuck with them the most:

 _If there were two words to describe the Klaus I know now: Attention Whore. He had fallen headfirst into drug addiction about a year before Five disappeared, a desperate act for_ _attention and approval that was only ever met with our disgust. Before drugs, they always found a way to change the focus onto themself. He would mumble and yell about the ghosts day in and day out. Our father was_ _even forced into soundproofing Klaus’s room after endless nights of screaming and crying, a constant annoyance in the household. I was baffled at the lengths they would go to take_ _attention away from me, and I watched their personality whither away and become a shell. He took for granted the attention our father gave them when I was barely even given a second glance. I was angry with him, for being_ _an annoyance, seeing them beg so much for any sort of attention, and for acting as though he had it bad like me. Frankly, it was embarrassing to witness. For me, it was a reminder that the attention I wanted would always be taken by Klaus’ greed for it._

 _Ben was a fool to give them that attention. His approval and comfort coddled Klaus, keeping him from growing tougher skin against the harsh realities. When they started to fall into_ _their addiction, it started small. Alcohol, weed, and pain killers. After Five disappeared, Klaus started dabbling in the harder stuff. He would come into the house in the late hours of the night, shaking and laughing uselessly to themself, certain days a silent cry. Instead of focusing on bringing Five back through their_ _powers, he became selfish and closed off. Instead of helping us find Five, they hogged their powers from us. We watched them spiral down and hit rock bottom when Ben passed. Ben seemed to be somewhat of his anchor, but when he died, Klaus could no longer hold himself together. The worst part of all of it was that Klaus made it about himself. They always made things about themself, something I_ _always hated. How could he always want to be the center of attention? Couldn’t they let me take the spotlight a few times?_

 _Ever since running away, he’s been living on the streets and bouncing from house to house. To fuel their drug addiction, he sells his body, still looking for that attention they so desperately craves. I remember the time where Klaus and I got along, but then they drifted away just like all the others. He became greedy, left nothing for me, and_ _threw everything down into the sewers._

_Klaus is the family disappointment, and I can’t say he hasn’t disappointed me._

Ben sat near his side for the entirety of the book, reading along with Klaus. Only after finishing it did he finally express his disdain and anger, a surprise to Klaus.

“What the fuck?” Ben spat out, quite venomously. Klaus turned to look at him in surprise. He had his hands clenched into tight fists resting in his lap, as he glared down at the bedsheets they were sitting on. “She painted us as the villains. It was Reginald, not us. Why would she do that?” It was surprising to Klaus, to see Ben so worked up about this.

The anger wasn’t a good look.

Klaus turned his head back down to the book, closing it with a final sigh. “I’m not so sure, I’m starting to think I was the villain. She’s right, about everything. I wasn’t very nice with her and always did shit that would ostracize her even more. I hurt her, she deserves to be mad.” Ben was looking at him now, he could sense it, but he didn’t dare look back.

“Of course she deserves to be mad, but she has no excuse to say the things she said about all of you. To say the things she did about you.” His tone was sharp, but softer now. “She’s not right, you never purposefully did anything to hurt her. You weren’t asking for attention, you just tried to be louder than the ghosts. Klaus.” Ben’s hand hovered over his shoulder, if he was living he’d be touching, but that wasn’t possible now. Klaus let their eyes catch Ben’s gaze. He looked awfully sad. “Vanya didn’t mean what she said. She doesn’t know what you’ve gone through, she just knows what she thinks is the truth. You can’t just let her say those things about you, because she was wrong. She needs help along with the rest of you, go talk to her.” Klaus looked away at that.

Ben wasn’t telling him the truth, he couldn’t because people that are disappointed in you don’t say those things. Ben just didn’t want Klaus to go back to drugs and lose his only tether to the real world. Ben didn’t care about him, he couldn’t possibly. Nobody ever had or ever will. Vanya’s book only confirmed that. Klaus knew for sure now that he was an attention whore, only ever burdening his siblings. Only ever causing trouble. Only ever greedy for attention. He was disgusted with himself. “Okay.” He replied very quietly, putting on a mask. At that moment, however, he formulated a plan, listening to Bens’ advice to talk to Vanya, hopefully that could fix what they had broken.

Klaus’ last day of rehab dried up, and he was left to the streets once more. Unlike other times, Klaus didn’t instantly run off to drugs again after rehab, to Ben’s joy, and dismay. He was on a mission to find Vanya, even though their ties to his sister weren't very good, nor were they good with any of their siblings. Seven months ago, Vanya had changed her phone number after Klaus called her. He didn’t remember what he had talked to her about, but the twist in his stomach at the thought gave him a clue it wasn’t good. That was his last tie to her and finding a good phonebook wasn’t as easy as he had thought.

To Klaus’ joy, he was able to find a small schedule stuck to a pole outside of the rehab center. It had clarified when and where Vanya Hargreeves, the author of Extraordinary, would be signing books. The next one was that afternoon at 3:30 pm. The signing was scheduled to take place at Droop Public Library on Willings Boulevard. Klaus decided, then, that they would go and talk to Vanya, hopefully, apologize deeply to her in hopes of rekindling a relationship.

As soon as Klaus picked the small schedule up and began walking, Ben worried over him, asking question after question of what he was doing, telling him, once again, that Vanya was wrong. His reassurances fell on deaf ears, Klaus wasn’t going to be swayed.

With every passing step, his heart clenched, a nervousness filling their body. They put on a facade, something to keep the negative feelings from showing. They didn’t want Vanya to see his weakness because he was supposed to be better now for her. Klaus was going to be better for her, not willing to disappoint her any further. He wouldn’t beg for her attention, nor anyone's, he never had deserved that attention.

Klaus was pulled out of his thoughts as they saw the sign for the library, causing the sinking feeling in their stomach to become worse. The stress of the situation told him to flee, to just let it go, or maybe that was Ben. Either way, he ignored that idea, even when the shaky feeling in his body got worse.  
They approached the sign and stopped, peeking into the small shop, and there she was. Vanya, sitting by a table signing book after book and she looked excited and happy. A once over would have just shown some book author giddy over their next new book, but this was Klaus’ sister.

There was a deep-set loneliness in her face hidden behind a mask she easily pieced together. The storminess behind her eyes showed the strain of stress on her back that latched on every day, the pain they had caused eating her away. She looked somewhat relieved, but not all the way. Klaus could tell there was still something that bothered her. He felt that he could fix this, make Vanya feel better and happier and less lonely.

With determination, they stepped into the cozy shop and instantly faltered. Vanya caught their eyes as the last patron scurried out, signed book in hand. The both of them stopping mid-motion, the air between them stilling with anticipation, the atmosphere tensing like a pulled rubber band, and he realized they couldn’t do this.

Vanya always had a very intense stare, something that would make your skin crawl when hooking eyes with her. For Klaus, at this moment, it felt 10 times worse, as if she bore a hole deep in their head and could see the thoughts whirring inside. A disbelieving look sat on her face, but all they could feel was her disappointment. A sort of insecurity crept up his back, the look she had sported reminding him so badly of the people he would meet on the streets, in clubs, at rehab. A look of absolute disgust, a look that would cause a wave of self-doubt in how they looked. In how they felt about himself. In everything, he knew about himself.

In a matter of moments, everything became too much. Klaus’ thoughts began to spiral, self-doubt and insecurity filling his every limb, and their skin felt too tight. The feeling of tears threatening to push forward pulled them out of his daze. Klaus couldn’t cry here, not in front of his sister. That would be asking for attention, but she needed attention. God, he was just so greedy.

Before Vanya could say or do anything, Klaus ran. Ran out of the shop and for the nearest alleyway they could hide himself in. He was disgusting, revolting, he had to hide. Everyone was looking at them. They were looking at him like filth, like the scum beneath everyone’s shoes. That’s where they belonged, they belonged in the dump. They didn’t belong to this world, only to death and death clung to him like a desperate child.

Klaus was spiraling. Of course when they were gonna apologize to their dear sister, he had to make it all about himself. He had to stop making themself the center of attention.

But he seemed incapable of doing such a thing. They had to drill in their head that he wasn’t important and he never will be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!! sorry about the hiatus there, school sucked the life out of me and i kinda got out of TUA for a bit there because the second season is not my favorite. but i really hope you like it, there will be more when the two siblings ACTUALLY talk, but for now, enjoy some good old angst. as always, if you have any ideas, concerns, or criticisms, do let me know!! thanks so much y’all, all of you are WICKED!!

**Author's Note:**

> My first fanfiction finally published to this website hehhehe  
> Anyway, I hope y’all like it!! Chapter 2 out soon!!


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